TYO Music Staff
DR. ALEXANDER JIMÉNEZ (TYO Music Director; Director, TYO Symphony Orchestra) serves as associate professor of conducting and director of orchestral activities at The Florida State University College of Music, and is the String Area coordinator. He has served on the faculties of San Francisco State University and Palm Beach Atlantic University, and has degrees from Baylor University (B.M.) and Florida State University (M.M., M.M.E, and D.M.). Jiménez has studied with Phillip Spurgeon, Michael Haithcock, and the late Anton Guadagno. As a percussionist and timpanist, he studied with Gary Werdesheim, Larry Vanlandingham, Keiko Abe, and Cloyd Duff.
Under his direction the University Orchestras have continued their long tradition of excellence. Both the undergraduate University Philharmonia and the University Symphony Orchestra under Dr. Jiménez have championed new music and collaborated with such composers as Krzysztof Penderecki, Martin Bresnick, Anthony Iannaconne, Christopher Theofanidis, Ellen Taafe Zwilich, and Ladislav Kubik. In 2007 the USO was featured in the PBS special Peanuts Gallery which was awarded Best Performance of 2007 by the National Educational Television Association. Dr. Jiménez has premiered new works with the University Orchestras, including the world premieres of The General by Emmy Award-winning composer Jeff Beal, the Piano Concerto No. 3 by Ladislav Kubik, Trumpeting the Stone by Brent Michael Davids, and the American premiere of Alma by Harold Schiffman. Jiménez has recorded with the Mark, CBC/Ovation, and Naxos labels.
Jiménez is active as a guest conductor and adjudicator throughout the United States and Europe. He has served on the jury panel of the European Festival of Music for Young People in Neerpelt, Belgium, and is a regular adjudicator with Festival Disney. He recently appeared as conductor with the Brno Philhrmonic in the Czech Republic to record Kubik’s Piano Concerto No. 3. Dr. Jiménez is in demand conducting honor and all-state orchestras throughout the U.S., including an appearance in 2009 with the MENC All-Eastern Orchestra in Providence, Rhode Island. In Tallahassee, he has appeared as guest conductor of the Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra and since 2000 has been music director of the Tallahassee Youth Orchestras.
Dr. Jiménez is currently serving a two-year term as president of the College Orchestra Directors Association. He formerly served on the board of the College Music Society and is active in the Music Educators National Conference, the Florida Orchestra Association, and the League of American Orchestras.
CHRIS MILLER (TYO Associate Music Director and Director of the Chamber Orchestra) is the orchestra director at Chiles High School. He is a National Board Certified Teacher and the 2005 recipient of the Wiley Housewright Award for excellence in music education. In March of 2009 he led the Chiles Chamber Orchestra to a First Place at the National Orchestra Festival in Atlanta. An active performer, he has been principal second violin in the Tallahassee Symphony for ten years and is also a member of the Red Hills String Quartet. Mr Miller has five children who represent the sixth generation of direct descendants to occupy their home in Lloyd.
GERALYN ASHBURN (Director, Symphonic Strings) directs the 7 Hills Suzuki Strings and has performed with the Tallahassee Symphony since 1990. She earned Bachelor's and Master's Degrees in Music Education and a Certificate of Violin Performance from Florida State University. A registered Suzuki instructor for books 1-8, she began teaching the Suzuki method in 1988 after training with William Starr, Louise Wear and Linda Fiore. Ms. Ashburn has taught orchestra in Charlotte and Hickory, North Carolina, and at Florida High. She held positions with the Western Piedmont Symphony and the Salisbury Symphony (NC), where she played Principal Second Violin. She has also performed with the Ft. Lauderdale and Pensacola symphonies. Some of her students have pursued careers in music, music education, anthropology, neuroscience, medicine, and economics. In addition to sharing music with her students, Ms. Ashburn enjoys playing chamber music with her four children.
MICHELLE HUDSON (Director, Philharmonia) is the orchestra director at Montford Middle School. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Cello Performance from Florida State University, and is currently enrolled in the Florida State's Summer Master of Music Education Program. Before returning to Tallahassee, Mrs. Hudson was a string teacher for Brevard County Schools in Melbourne, FL where she worked at 8 different schools with students ranging from 5th- 12th grade. She also maintained a private studio and was a sectional coach for the Brevard Symphony Youth Orchestra. During the summers, Mrs. Hudson is the Assistant Coordinator of the Sarasota Music Festival.
COLLEEN MANSEAU (Director, Fundamentals) is from Detroit, Michigan. She studied violin and viola at a young age and performed with the Detroit Civic Orchestra. She began her undergraduate studies at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. She received her Bachelor of Music from San Francisco State University and holds a Masters in viola performance. Ms. Manseau has performed with the Albany Symphony Orchestra, Valdosta Symphony Orchestra, Penfield Symphony Orchestra, Walnut Creek Orchestra, and the North West Florida Symphony. She is currently a member of the Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra. For the past few years she has been the director for her own summer music camps for string players and has been the primary viola instructor at the Florida State University Summer Orchestra camps. She has been the director of the TSYO Symphonic Strings and the Philharmonia. She teaches fifth grade string classes in Leon County Schools. Ms. Manseau is currently seeking a Doctorate in viola performance at Florida State University.
MICKEY ABRAHAM (Co-Director, Tallahassee Fiddlers) has earned a degree in creative writing from FSU. Since graduating college, Mickey has been heavily involved in bluegrass and new-acoustic music both regionally and nationally. His unique approaches to teaching, performing, and promoting music have been featured in the May 2008 issue of Flatpicking Guitar Magazine and his newest instrumental album is being released as a digital download on David Grisman's Grammy nominated record label, Acoustic Disc. Since 2004, Mickey has continually been invited back to perform and teach at almost every major new-grass festival in the state; MagnoliaFest, Suwannee Springfest, Gamble Rogers Folk Festival, Riverhawk Music Festival, and the Florida Folk Festival to name a few. Mickey has also been a judge for the North Florida Bluegrass Association's bluegrass contests. He currently performs with two of Florida's most recognized contemporary acoustic bands, teaches private lessons, and coaches the Tallahassee Fiddlers. Mickey is also a writer and instructor for Flatpicking Guitar Magazine
Aisha Ivey (Co-Director, Tallahassee Fiddlers) has won the Southeastern United States Scottish Fiddle Championship for six years in a row and has also won awards and ribbons for her Irish, Old-Time, and Scandinavian fiddling. She won the award for ‘Best March’ at the 2010 National Scottish Fiddle Competition in Williamsburg, Virginia. Several of Aisha’s fiddle students have won awards at state, regional and national fiddle contests as well.
Aisha has studied with some of the world’s best fiddlers including Mark O’Connor, Eileen Ivers, Bonnie Rideout, Laura Risk, Brian Conway, James Kelly, Elke Baker and many others. She has taught privately and with music schools in Florida, North Carolina, and Tennessee and she also teaches workshops and clinics around the region. She has recorded several CD’s of traditional fiddle music with different musicians and she performs regularly at area festivals and concert venues.
DAVID POPE (Executive Director) joins the TYO with various experiences in music education and administration. He is currently pursuing his Doctorate of Music Education at Florida State University. Prior to returning to Florida State University, Mr. Pope taught string and full orchestra at Maryville Middle School and Maryville High School in Tennessee. In 2009, he was selected as the Outstanding Young Music Educator for the state of Tennessee. During the summer, he serves as a conductor and sectional coach at the Florida State University Summer Orchestra Camps. Past administrative experiences include positions at the Florida State University's Summer Music Camps, the University of South Carolina String Project, Spoleto Music Festival USA (Charleston, South Carolina), and the Aspen Summer Music Festival (Aspen, Colorado). He is actively involved with American String Teachers Association by serving as the Florida State University Chapter President and the past editor TN-ASTA newsletter. As an educator, he has served as a guest clinician in Tennessee, Georgia, South Carolina, and Florida.